Different
by Miyo-chan02
Summary: I'm Sa-" she hesitated for a second. Different. She always wanted to be one and this was her chance! "S-Satsuki. I-I'm Hoshino Satsuki. Please to meet you." A game of pretend. Let's see if Sakuno's good with one. /One-shot/ -an apology fic for my readers


"Different"

By Miyo-chan02

Disclaimer:  
I don't own POT or any of it's characters.

Summary:  
"I'm Sa--" she hesitated for a second. Different. She always wanted to be one and this was her chance! "S-Satsuki. I-I'm Hoshino Satsuki. Please to meet you." A game of pretend. Let's see if Sakuno's good with one. /One-shot/

.. .. ..

_Yukatas... _

_Lanterns..._

_Stalls..._

_They're everywhere._

_The festival's just around the corner, and everyone is getting hooked up with it. Of course, a certain someone is too._

_.. .. .._

Pink. Flowers. Innocence. That's what most likely made up her look. She wore a yukata that landed perfectly above her ankles. It's fine synthetic fabric was colored pure white with cherry blossom patterns blooming in it's art. Her hair was kept in it's usual style. Long. Auburn. And braided.

She looked at herself once more. What she saw was someone who always met up with her before a mirror. Trying to show one of her sweetest smiles, what she got back is a long and depressing sigh.

She looked entirely the same. It was as if she was a paper doll, with which only the clothes change. She's pretty much convinced that her look will never improve. She'll remain the same. The same girl in braids. The same old Ryuzaki Sakuno.

If only she could be different. Perhaps somehow, _he'll_ notice her. _He'll_ see that she isn't just the tennis club coach's granddaughter. _He'll_ see that she is Ryuzaki Sakuno. She blushed at the thought. Just the thought of Echizen Ryoma, noticing her can drive her embarrassment to it's highest peak.

"Sakuno, Tomoka's here!" she heard her grandma calling from downstairs. "Hai, coming!" she quickly replied making her way down and trying to forget her previous thoughts.

Taking steps, she was welcomed by her best friend waiting at the foot of the stair case. She smiled at the sight of her friend. "Tomo-chan..." she acknowledged.

Reaching the end, Tomoka spun around showing her yukata. It was as red as a tomato, with white daffodils serving as it's design. Her hair remained the same although, she had several floral clips that complemented her yukata perfectly. Sakuno looked at her friend amazed. Although Tomoka didn't change much of her looks, she looked real great. "You look great Tomo-chan!"

"A. Ri. Ga. Tou." Tomoka smiled. "You're so adorable in your yukata Sakuno-chan!" she squealed with Sakuno only nodding in reply.

"Eh? Something wrong? What's with the face?" Tomoka asked quite worried with her friend's actions.

Sakuno tried shaking her head, but she knew that no matter how much she tried lying, it wouldn't work on Tomoka. "Anou... well... I-I look so... common... and normal." Sakuno admitted.

"Why? You want to look abnormal?"

"N-no! That's not what I meant. I-I just want to look... _different_." For her, the word had such an impact.

Tomoka smiled cheekily and started to elbow Sakuno lightly. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? Trying to impress Ryoma-sama am I right?" The young girl could only blush in reply. Tomoka just knew her too well.

"Come here." Tomoka and Sakuno stood before a mirror. "If you say different... we'll have to do a couple of measures here..."

"A-a couple of measures?" For some reason, Sakuno felt a bit nervous. It's just that... taking measures for her to be different? What'll be the outcome of these so-called measures?

"Well, just count on me okay?"

Tomoka started to untangle her braids and comb the long strands of her hair. Her hair reached a little below her knees. Tomoka tied the right portion of her hair into a bun using a ribbon. "And as a present I'll give you this." She placed a hair accessory right on the bun on her hair. "Just a little of this." She then placed a red lipstick on her lips. Not too bright. Nor too dull. Just right and it suited Sakuno very much.

Sakuno looked at herself on the mirror and was surprised with what she saw.

"Well? You look different alright. But of course, my magic won't work without the final touch."

"Final touch?"

"Why not try smiling?"

The auburn-head smiled. And so did her reflection.

.. .. ..

"Oi oi why don't we try that stall over there? What do you think ochibi?" red-head Kikumaru Eiji asked his kouhai.

"I think I'll try going home now." 12-year old brat, Echizen Ryoma replied making his way out of the festivity.

"Not so fast brat. We're here to have some fun. Not to be spoilers by going home." peach-head Momoshiro countered.

Just like any other day that Kami made forhim, Ryoma was once again stuck with his crazy sempais: aka Momo and Eiji, for they had nothing else to do but to teach their kouhai about 'teenage life' as they call it. But for Ryoma, there's only one thing in mind.

_As always..._

"Why can't we just play tennis?"

"Oh come on. Ryuzaki-sensei asked us to have some kinda day off. And since we have a festival here, it was great timing. Besides girls will be accompanying us you know." Eiji said trying to provoke the young one.

"Sempai's right. Girls would be so cute in their yukatas!" Momoshiro agreed.

"Hoi hoi, Momoshiro, you must be eager to see Tachibana-chan?! Am I right?" Eiji teased.

The peach-head painted his face red. "Wh-what are you talking about sempai!?"

Ryoma narrowed his eyes on his upper class men. What's up with yukatas? Is it their first time to see someone wear it? "This is boring." While his two sempais continued fighting or teasing, he started to walk out of the scene hoping to find something that could catch some interest.

"Wait, speaking of girls, who did you invite anyway?"

Just before Eiji could reply to the question, a certain figure interrupted him. "Hey Osakada-chan!" he called.

Tomoka turned to him with a face of distress. "Hey sempai." she said weakly. "I was with Sakuno-chan but I think we lost each other on our way into the crowds. Have you seen her?" she asked worriedly.

Both shook their heads. "What about you Echizen?" Momoshiro asked in the air. "Hey, Echizen's missing too!"

.. .. ..

"Ittai!" Sakuno cried in pain, reaching for her sore foot.

She sat on a bench remembering perfectly, the sequence of events.

_With excitement, she and Tomoka, went to the festival dressed in their kimonos and sandals. Although getting in it, was never easy. The event was pretty crowded. Lots of people were blocking the way. In fact, they were everywhere! "Tomo-chan, how can we get in?" she asked._

_Tomoka grabbed her hand. "Don't let go okay? We'll get in." Quickly, Tomoka ran to the crowd, with Sakuno trying her best to not let go. Yet in the end, the crowd's force was too much, and she found herself surrounded by people she didn't know The worst part is that, while running, her sandal broke resulting with her current state._

A long sigh came from her. "What'll I do?" If only, she could stand, and walk, she might have tried asking people around her. But having a soar foot might be another burden for them. She didn't want to bother them.

She was about to give up when, a familiar figure met her big brown eyes. He was just walking straight in his usual clothes with some water balloons hanging on his fingers. With a various ray of emotions filling her up, she was only able to utter his name. "Ryoma-kun..."

Hearing his name mentioned by a familiar voice, he stopped on his steps and shot his head towards the direction, meeting her eyes.

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds. What his eyes saw seemed different than expected. Ryoma's eyebrow rose.

Sakuno thought to introduce herself, and tried standing up but failed because of her foot. "Ittai..." she cried again.

Ryoma sighed and walked towards her. He looked at her foot and gave it first aid. "Arigatou Ryoma-kun." she thanked him.

He once again rose his eyebrow. He really didn't mind people calling him by his first name. After all, in America, it didn't really matter. But, it's just that, only one girl calls him that. "Do I know you?"

Starting from the voice. The big brown hazel eyes. The small figure. The long auburn hair. It was all familiar to him. But the red lipstick and the long hair hanging loose? It doesn't ring a bell.

"I'm Sa--" she hesitated for a second. Different. She always wanted to be one and this was her chance! "S-Satsuki. I-I'm Hoshino Satsuki. Please to meet you." her cheeks started to turn pink.

"Hn."

Now, she's done it. She'll just have to get going. "A-anou... I-I'm To--Osakada-san's friend." she covered her mouth. If she'll be different, she has to stop stuttering. "I'm sorry for the bother." That was better than expected.

"It's okay."

She inhaled and exhaled. She'll have to try again. "Well... I was thinking... well actually, more of hoping if you've seen her."

"I haven't seen her."

"I-I see." Sakuno couldn't think of anything else to say.

A long period of silence came. None of them ever dared to speak.

Was it like this to be different? Was this the feeling of not being Ryuzaki Sakuno? She thought that it would make her feel better. But, it made no difference. Perhaps it was worse. It's like she was... she was deceiving herself into something she could never be. Yet her efforts made no difference. It was better to be herself. She didn't have to be someone else for him to notice her.

She'll have to tell him that she's Sakuno. She has to. "Anou..."

She stopped in the middle of her sentence with Ryoma facing his back to her. "I'll carry you."

"Y-y-you don't have to... I-I m-mean... I'll j-just be a bother... I-I.."

Ryoma grabbed her arms and placed it on his broad shoulders and started carrying her. "If you don't hold on, you'll fall."

Sakuno's face flushed more. "R-ryoma-kun... A-anou... g-gomenasai... Y-you really d-didn't have to do this." she forgot all about pretending to be someone else.

He smirked. So, he wasn't really wrong after all was he?

.. .. ..

With Sakuno being carried by Ryoma, exiting a festivity with lots of people, wasn't an easy task. Good thing, they were able to get out.

The night was calm and peaceful. The streets weren't filled with people. It was as if the road was cleared up for them. Sakuno found this a great time to tell him the truth. She was about to speak out if only, Ryoma didn't interrupt her again.

"Ne... until when will you pretend to be Hoshina Satachi? Huh Ryuzaki?"  
_It's Hoshino Satsuki._

Sakuno's eyes widened. "Wh-what? H-how?" Numerous _what's_, and _how's_ entered her mind. She knew that her act wasn't perfect, but she didn't expect him to know instantly.

Ryoma didn't give out a response during the whole walk. Sakuno felt disappointed. She regretted everything she did.

As they reached her house. She looked down. "Arigatou... gomenasai..." it was a faint apology. "J-just a question. How? H-how did you know?"

A smirk formed on his lips. "Ryuzaki is Ryuzaki." And he left.

With one reply, Ryuzaki Sakuno felt the happiest.

//.O.W.A.R.I.//

**Omake:**

Eiji and Momo: *cries*

Eiji: Ochibi's *sniff* so sweet to Ryuzaki-chan!

Momo: It's great to be young.

Tomoka: *squeals*

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

_Phew!! After all these busy months, once again, Miyo-chan02 (simply Miyo-chan) finally published a story. I missed FFnet. _

_I'm sorry for not being active for so long. A lot of things happened. Starting from school, to calamities, to power interruptions, to computer reformatting and to other sorts of problems._

_But I'm telling you, I missed writing fanfictions. Especially the RyoSaku love TT~TT_

_Now I'm scared that this one-shot might not get reviews/faves or any positive things. I mean, I really haven't done any fanfics lately. I had no time. I hope my grammar and idea didn't get horrible or something._

_My dear readers, please bear with this 14-year old sophomore with a busy life. _

_Thank you!!_

_Once again, apologies for, OOCness, wrong usage of grammar, typos and 'hard-to-understand's._

_--Miyo-chii_

_

* * *

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_Edited: November 14, 2009 1:09 pm_

_--doll to 'dull'  
--soar to 'sore' _


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